


Excepting Elena

by kathkin



Series: Summerpornathon 2012 [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-18 00:00:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/873409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After she marries Prince Arthur, Elena discovers a terrible double-standard: noblemen are allowed to have as many lovers as they like, but noblewomen are most certainly <i>not. </i>It just isn't fair. After all, she has needs too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Excepting Elena

**Author's Note:**

> For challenge 4 at the 2012 summerpornathon: minor characters.

It turned out being married to Prince Arthur wasn’t all that bad. After the unbearable awkwardness of their wedding night, Elena and Arthur settled into a pattern; they spent time together for courtly functions and went on weekly rides and occasionally dined together, but other than that they kept to themselves. Arthur hunted and trained with his knights and kept up his secret romance with a maidservant. Elena muddled through her new duties and pretended she didn’t know Arthur had a lover.

It didn’t take her long to realise that was exactly what the rest of the castle was doing; muddling along, one step away from collapsing under the weight of its miscommunication and general incompetence, and pretending not to notice that virtually every noble lord under its roof was shagging some maid (or another noblewoman, or a stablehand) when his wife’s back was turned. It was an unspoken rule: men took lovers. Men had needs. It was in their nature. It was not a new concept to Elena, she’d heard all the same things at home; when she was a little younger she’d become convinced that unsatisfied men must turn into terrible beast-monsters and go on sex-rampages, so important their ‘needs’ seemed to be.

Now that she’d got things straightened out in her head, it didn’t really bother her, except. Except she had needs too, and Arthur was most certainly _not_ fulfilling them – they’d been together once, for the sake of consummation, and he’d fumbled and apologised his way through the whole affair. Elena supposed that’d have to do it again at some point, because people _would_ start to talk if she wasn’t pregnant soon.

Except it was clear from all the rumors and whispers she’d picked up that noble _ladies_ were most certainly _not_ allowed to take as many lovers as they pleased, and must put up with the minstrations of their husband, no matter how fumbling or half-hearted. Except it just wasn’t _fair_.

*

Merlin was Arthur’s manservant, which meant he was Elena’s servant as well, sort of. He’d been ever so nice to her since the wedding, and at first Elena supposed Arthur must have ordered him to make her feel welcome, but no – he really was just a sweetheart.

“It’s from Arthur,” he said as he fastened a new necklace around her neck, silver wrought into delicate little flowers, “A gift.” His hands lingered on her shoulders when he was finished with the fastening, and she could see him smiling in the mirror. It wasn’t proper, really, this should be her maidservant’s job, but she didn’t mind.

“It’s lovely,” she said, fingering the fine chain. Merlin beamed. He’d probably picked it out himself, she realised, and the thought made her beam too. “You can tell him I like it very much. No, that’s not – I love it, tell him I love it. Or no, don’t say anything, I’ll wear it next time I dine with him – or will he notice if I do that?”

Merlin’s fingers grazed the skin of her neck. “Um,” he said. “I’m not sure. Maybe. He will if I tell him to.”

“You do that, then,” said Elena. Merlin was still standing so close, skin touching hers, and he didn’t move until her maidservant came back into the room, arms full of clean laundry.

A week or so after that, Elena came back to her room to find him arranging wildflowers in a vase on the table, completely absorbed in the task. She watched him for a moment – his neck was bare, he wasn’t wearing one of his usual scarves, the ones Arthur hated but Elena secretly thought made him look quite dashing, and in the afternoon sunbeams from the window he was almost glowing – then cleared her throat. He started. “Are those from Prince Arthur?” she nodded at the flowers.

“What?” said Merlin. “No, I – they’re from me. I was in the woods today. And, well, I saw them, and I was just thinking the other day that your room could use some brightening up, and, well –”

The thing was, Elena had needs, and right now she needed Merlin to be quiet and stop blathering on. She marched over, heels of her riding boots, clicking on the flagstones, took a hold of his face, and kissed him, hard.

It was awkward, because he was too tall and she couldn’t decide whether to stand on tip-toes or try and make him hunch down, and also because he was flailing against the table, but he kissed her back, hot and desperate.

“Don’t do that,” he said, half into her mouth. “Arthur will kill me if he finds out. I mean, _actually_ kill me.”

Elena drew back, hands still on his face, one brushing his ear. She was still wearing her gloves (another gift from Arthur). “I don’t see why. I started it,” she said. “And besides, it’s not as if he never dallies with servants.”

Merlin’s brow furrowed. Then he said, “Wait, you know about that?”

“I’m not stupid,” she said. “I understand. He loves her. He doesn’t love me that way, and I don’t love him either, and that’s all very well, it’s just –”

“Just what?”

“Well, I have _needs_ too,” she finished.

Merlin was biting his lip. She could feel him shifting around, trying belatedly to find a way to stand so she wouldn’t notice he’d gotten hard – she felt a throb of pride at that, she’d done that to him, _her_. “He would _actually kill me_ ,” he said at length.

“I thought that was the whole point of an affair,” said Elena. “It’s supposed to feel _dangerous_. That’s what makes it fun.”

“Well when you put it like that,” said Merlin. He took a few deep breaths. “I’m, um, supposed to be tending to Arthur right now, actually, he’ll be backing from training by now –”

He stumbled out of the room, flashing her a shy smile before he left, but of course, after that it was only a matter of time.

*

Merlin was a country boy. Not as experienced as country boys were _supposed_ to be, granted, but still with no sense of etiquette or what the _proper_ way to treat a lady was in the bedroom. Arthur had tried his best to make love to her. Merlin fucked.

He fucked Elena the way Arthur never had, cock sliding in and out of her so smooth and wet that she could feel it, the soft wet sounds of her own body moving. He fucked her until she was writhing against the pillows, hair wild, until she _mewled_ with pleasure.

His hand was on her thigh, squeezing where her muscles were all tensed, spreading her legs further apart, then pushing in again, and again, his face all screwed up so it should have been ugly, but it wasn’t.

Something gave. She felt herself pulse – _one, two, three_ – her body no longer her own, muscles flexing and clenching of their own accord, squeezing tight around his cock, and then it was over, she was done, gasping and trembling as he stuttered and begged his way through his own orgasm around her, and she was glad she’d come first, she liked this, she liked seeing him come apart so completely and knowing she’d done that to him.

“Oh god,” he said, cock slipping out of her, softening. “I can’t believe we just did that. Arthur is going to have my _guts_ if he finds out.”

“So he doesn’t find out,” said Elena, curling a hand through his hair. Her body was still on fire, she was burning between the legs, it’d probably hurt in the morning but she didn’t care. “Besides, you can always just blame me, it was my idea.”

She kissed Merlin to shut him up, one of his hands cupping her breast, thumbing roughly at her nipple, and when they drew apart he laughed and pressed his lips to the bridge of her nose.

“You,” he said, “are amazing.”

“You’re adorable,” she said, then, “let’s go again, shall we?” After all, she was a woman, and she had needs.  



End file.
